An enduring puzzle is that a person's own self-rating of health (SRH) predicts mortality and morbidity better than physician ratings, symptom counts, or disease severity; this phenomena has been extensively replicated. But, we lack knowledge of what the rating captures or of how people construct the rating. The goal of this study is to describe the meetings older individuals ascribe to their SRH andmonthly variation in SRH. We argue that a full understanding of the meanings for SRH is vital to solving the puzzle of why it predicts mortality and morbidity. Findings will have direct public health relevance related to the use of this single item measure in clinical practice and for health promotion efforts. The proposed study is designed to use anthropology and epidemiology methods to determine the meanings of SRH and its variations over one year. Community dwelling adults (N = 232), 65-74 years of age who are enrolled in one of two large senior/social health programs in Philadelphia will be recruited. Quota sampling will be used to stratify subjects into each of four whites and Afican-American will be provided within each SRH condition. Qualitative and quantitative assessments will be conducted at baseline. Qualitative measures will focus on the contents of meanings for health and SRH. A medical health measure will be obtained from subjects' physicians. The year-long view of SRH willb e captured by monthly phone contacts to monitor SRH. Follow-up qualitative interviews with key types of SRH and will examine the patterns and changes in SRH. Combined analyses will evaluate how meanings relate to sociodemographic, psychosocial, or biomedical factors and which meanings are associated with patterns of change in SRH.